Past Mistakes
by Alpha-Bread
Summary: A girl from the Crusand Empire wakes up one day to an unpleasant surprise: she has lost her memories and is now an Oresoren! In her search for a way to become human again and return home, she discovers shocking secrets about her past that may have been better left forgotten. Main cast appears, rated T for some violence later on. /Discontinued until further notice
1. Introduction

_Author's Note:_

_Hello, and welcome to the introductory chapter of my first fanfic! Things may seem to move along slowly at first, but the plot will likely start to thicken as the main cast joins. Regardless, enjoy and feel free to share advice and/or opinions!_

_I should also point out as a disclaimer that Tales of Legendia and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

She realized something was wrong even before opening her eyes. For starters, the ground felt cold and dirty—nothing like the beds at the inn.

_The inn...was I at an inn before this? I can't remember..._ In fact, she was having a hard time remembering _anything. _

What's more, the air smelled...disgusting, to put it bluntly. The lingering stench of long-rotted meat seemed to be all over the place. As nice as it would've been to just get up and leave, she found herself too tired to even open her eyes, much less stand up and walk away. "Ugh..."

"Ors?"

_Ors?_ _What..._ Apparently she wasn't alone, and she didn't want to leave herself vulnerable if that was the case. The girl reluctantly lifted her head and forced her eyes open, only to find an otter. A clothed otter, with a little yellow cap and everything. "W-what the?" She immediately sat up and backed away, catching a glimpse of her own bottom half in the process.

Now the girl may not have remembered much, but there were a few things she had no doubts about. She had just arrived on the Legacy after leaving Crusand, for reasons she couldn't remember if she tried, and she was most certainly human before this. She did not at any point in her life have fur, little otter feet, or a tail.

Why, then, did she see those very things where her human legs should have been?

Her otter companion didn't seem to think anything was wrong, seeing as it gave a cheerful greeting. "Oh good, you're awake! Why are you napping in the resting place of the Mighty Ones?"

"Mighty...what?" 'What?' seemed to be her phrase of the day, apparently. But hey, who could blame her? Anyone would be dumbfounded to wake up as an otter in front of a talking otter. Nonetheless, she tried to answer as best she could. Maybe this otter had some answers of its own. "I don't remember. Is this a graveyard? Who...no, what are you?"

The otter looked puzzled at this, but remained smiling. "Yes, this is where the Mighty Ones come to spend their final moments." It looked her up and down before introducing itself. "My name is Poppo of the Oresoren. Why do you ask? You look like an Oresoren to me."

"I _what_?" The girl looked down at herself more carefully and placed her little otter paws to feel her face. Little otter ears, a small otter nose, and fuzzy otter fur were all she found. _So he's right..._ Naturally she had no idea how to react to this, though she knew it might have been easier if she had her memories. Fainting seemed like the easiest thing to do right now. Yeah, maybe there was some trick to it, and she just wasn't trying hard enough.

...Nope, still no fainting. She desperately hoped this was just some weird dream.

"I've never seen you in our village, now that I think about it." Poppo placed a paw on his chin in thought. Despite the contemplation, he hardly seemed bothered by the situation. "Ors, I know! Maybe Jay can help. Allow me to escort you to the Oresoren village!"

"Wait a minute! Don't go thinking I'll just let you take me wherever," she protested. However, a distant roar sent a chill down her spine along with a reminder: she had no idea where she was, and sticking around could end up turning her into food for one of these "Mighty Ones". _But I can't even be sure whether or not this otter was the cause of all this. There's no way I can trust him. _Even so, the former human found herself meeting the Oresoren's innocent little eyes.

Big mistake.

"Well, maybe...I don't really have anywhere else to go," she replied hesitantly. Despite the shock of turning into one, the Oresoren in front of her was proving to be too adorable and innocent-looking for her to distrust completely. Besides, she wouldn't know how to defend herself in this body even with her weapon. It was far too dangerous to be alone. _Stay wary, though, _she reminded herself.

"Ors~! Follow me, then! It sounds like a Mighty One is on its way here," Poppo began waddling away towards some kind of platform. Huh, a platform in a cave? Maybe these were some kind of ancient ruins.

"By the way, what's your name?"

Whether she wanted to answer the question or not, she couldn't even remember her name; just her homeland and the fact that she was supposed to be human. It was more than a little scary, not even knowing her own name, but at the same time she felt too healthy to be completely worried about it. "Hard to say...I guess I don't have one."

"Well, you were found in the Mighty Ones' resting place, so let's call you Gaet for now! That's what some humans call the Mighty Ones. Ors~!" Poppo suggested cheerily, seemingly immune to any form of discomfort.

"Gaet?" She could vaguely recall hearing about something along the lines of a legendary beast by that name. _Huh. So that's what Mighty Ones are._ She had a name, a human name, but this would have to do for now. At least it gave her some kind of identity. For the time being, she was Gaet: an Oresoren who used to be a human girl from the Crusand Empire. Seemed like a decent collection of information.

"Be very careful," Poppo warned as the two Oresoren walked—or more like stumbled in Gaet's case, what with her inexperienced otter feet—onto the platform. "They usually don't attack us, but the monsters won't like it if we make too much noise. We should be okay once we get out of the Great Hollow."

Gaet looked up at the orange and pink shades of leaves as the platform they were standing on began rising. "The Great Hollow, huh? So that's where we are..." At least she knew they were still somewhere on the Legacy. This whole thing was just too bizarre, but she knew she would go insane if she tried to piece together everything at once. "I take it this'll be a long walk."

"Ors~!"


	2. Suspicion

_Phew, the second chapter's done. I forgot to mention this earlier, but the story takes place just a few months after the end of the character quests. Sadly, this means Grune won't be making an appearance. Well, enjoy!_

_Tales of Legendia does not belong to me._

* * *

Gaet slowly but surely found herself growing used to her new feet as she and Poppo traveled. In fact, she gradually became comfortable enough to walk without concentrating too much, eventually falling into a repetitive, soldier-like march. Neither of the Oresoren seemed to think anything of it at the time, however.

"Hey, are we almost there yet?" Gaet was beginning to grow more and more suspicious of this otter every minute. _I shouldn't be following him. Maybe it'd be smarter to go off on my own._ It had been a while since they got out of the Great Hollow and she was starting to think this was all a trap.

Poppo remained oblivious as ever. "Almost, ors!"

"And why do you keep saying 'ors'? Is that some kind of—"

"We're here!" The Oresoren held out a paw in the entrance's direction. "Welcome to the Oresoren Village. Ors!"

Gaet narrowed her eyes and looked ahead, half-expecting an ambush or something to be waiting. Instead, there were small houses, merchant stands, and a community of otters scurrying about. She stared in fascination for a few moments at the society these creatures somehow built. _I've never heard of something like this..._

"Ors?"

"R-right. You lead the way," she quickly answered, snapping out of it. _I've gotta focus on figuring this mess out. _

"Of course!" Poppo made his way through the village, followed by Gaet. They managed to travel the whole way without receiving any strange looks from the Oresoren, so it seemed she fit right in.

Gaet looked down at her paws. _I really do look just like them, don't I?_

It wasn't long before they stopped at a slightly larger than average house(at least by Oresoren standards). "Jay, I've returned! And I've brought someone, ors!"

When the door opened, Gaet was expecting this Jay person to be a talking otter like the rest of the villagers. Instead, what she saw was a huge, scowling beast at least twice her height—a human in a mostly purple cloak. She reached up to shield her face with her paws. "Eeek! Giant!"

At this, the human boy's scowl softened; he seemed to take this as a compliment. However, a look of suspicion and hostility quickly returned to his face. Before he could say anything, however, Poppo interrupted. "It's alright, Gaet. Jay is actually very small compared to most humans, and he's very kind."

"Huh? Is that so?" She took another look at Jay, realizing that he did in fact look petite and girlish. If she was human, she was sure that he would've been even shorter than her.

"Never mind that! Poppo, who is this? She's not from the village." Jay turned to address Gaet, pulling out a knife. "What business do you have here, and why are you disguising yourself as an Oresoren? If you plan on harming them, I won't show any mercy."

"Whoa, hey! I'm not even armed!" This only seemed to earn a deeper glare from Jay. '_Very kind', my foot!_

"Jay, Gaet's a friend! I think she lost her memory, and we were hoping you might know something." Poppo stepped in between them.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Jay stepped back and nodded, listening to Poppo with utmost respect. "Then come inside and explain yourselves."

"You know, I don't think I want to after you threatened me like that."

The boy turned to her with a deadly glare, one that Gaet swore could send a dragon running for its life. "No, I insist."

"Right, then! Sorry for delaying!" Gaet scurried inside, followed by Poppo and Jay.

* * *

"So you're saying you don't remember anything?" Jay asked. The three of them were now sitting in a circle on a very cozy carpet, a nice little plate of scallops resting in front of them.

"Not necessarily anything, but nothing important," Gaet answered while struggling to break open a scallop. After they all had a few moments to settle down, she had become much calmer.

"Alright, then. Poppo, how much do you know?"

"Ors~! I was looking through the Mighty Ones' graveyard to find parts for the Poppo Mk. V when I found Gaet unconscious."

"What's the Poppo Mk. V?" Gaet asked. Better yet, what happened to the first four?

"A submarine, now stop interrupting." Jay turned to her with a glare. Clearly the calm atmosphere did nothing to weaken his suspicion of her.

"When she woke up, she seemed surprised. Apparently she wasn't always an Oresoren, so I thought we should ask you about it," Poppo finished.

"I see. Thank you." With that, Jay turned to interrogate Gaet. "Tell me exactly what you remember. If I think you're lying..." He briefly revealed his knife to finish the sentence for him.

"Okay, okay! So I remember coming here to the Legacy from my homeland..." Gaet hesitated to say its name, unsure of whether or not her political affiliations would make things worse. The Crusand Empire wasn't exactly known for making friends with other nations. "And I know I was human back then, but from there I only remember waking up as an Oresoren. Gaet's not even my real name! It's just temporary because I can't even remember that much."

"Is that so?" Jay narrowed his eyes. "Is that all? You haven't left any details out?"

_Does he know I didn't tell him everything?_ A bit of panic set in. "Y-you know, I shouldn't be expected to spill my life story to a stranger!"

"Oh? But you were the one who wanted help," the boy answered as he stood up. Suddenly his fingertips began to glow. "Unless that was just an excuse. Tell me what you're planning to do to the Oresoren and I may spare your life."

Gaet frantically searched through what little knowledge she still had about the physics of this world, trying to figure out what was going on. It wasn't long before she found her answer—this boy was about to use an eres spell on her, one that would most likely hurt quite a bit, if it didn't kill her. "Wait, wait! I never wanted anything to do with your talking otters! I just want to be human again and go back to Crusand...Why did I even leave?" By now she could feel a few tears forming.

"Crusand, you say?" Jay's glare never faltered aside from some slight surprise at the country's name, but the light on his fingertips faded away. "I'll believe you for now, but I doubt you came to the Legacy for sightseeing. Don't try anything while you're here." He turned away and began thinking to himself. _Crusand. I thought we'd heard the last of them after that incident with Vaclav, but could they be planning something? Or is she a fugitive? I need to tell the others about this..._

"Then...do you know anything?" Gaet asked quietly, still sniffling a little. Considering the situation, she was actually a little proud of having managed to hold her tears back up until now.

"Not yet. Poppo, keep an eye on her until tomorrow morning. When Quppo and Pippo return, you can take turns keeping watch."

"Ors~!" Poppo nodded enthusiastically. "Then you'll help her?"

"I'll see what I can do. Tomorrow I plan on taking her to Werites Beacon to ask the others what they think." Jay turned to Gaet once more. "No objections. Until you learn more, I'm going to treat your presence as a hostile action on the Crusand Empire's part. That being said, consider yourself a prisoner of war until we can prove you're a civilian." He began walking away. "It's getting late, so rest while you can."

"I'll show you to a room," Poppo helped Gaet up and waddled away.

Gaet glanced back before following after the Oresoren. Things weren't exactly peachy right now, but she was grateful be free of Jay's hostility until morning. At the very least, these otters were way more pleasant to be around. _How did he manage to end up so vicious if he lives with these adorable fuzzy creatures?_

She let out a sigh, her ears drooping. Tomorrow she would be stuck with Jay and her fate would be in the hands of whoever these friends of his were. At the very least, she hoped they were half as friendly as the Oresoren. _Either way, i__t'll be a long day..._


	3. Revelation

Author's Note: Hello again, and thanks for reading this far! I'd also like to apologize for constantly making changes to the chapters, but I assure you the story's still the same. I'll likely get into the habit of editing newer chapters, but please bear with me! As always, I love to get feedback and such. Enjoy!

Also, Tales of Legendia still doesn't belong to me.

* * *

Once Gaet's sleeping arrangements were settled, the little otter curled up in a cocoon of blankets to make herself comfortable. "Hey...Poppo."

"Ors?" The Oresoren stood on the other side of the room and stared, showing no signs of sleeping anytime soon.

"Could you...I dunno, stop...staring like that? It's really hard to fall asleep," she answered, growing unnerved by the otter's unblinking eyes. "I know Jay wants you to keep watch, but..."

"Of course! I'll just keep my ears peeled." Poppo didn't seem to take any offense as he wandered off to find something to do.

"Thanks," Gaet sighed and closed her eyes. _I should be more worried. I must have a home and a family somewhere, yet I can't even...no, there's no use trying to think about what I don't know. I just...zzz,,._

It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Gaet found herself gazing down at some sort of dungeon, lined with cages and various torture devices. _Huh? I could swear I was at the Oresoren village just now..._ She attempted to speak, but no words came out. It seemed she would have to watch in silence.

One of the most notable features of the dungeon's inhabitants was the color of their clothing: several people in blue garbs—all of which were blonde, oddly enough—were contained in the many prison cells, while soldiers in red armor patrolled the area and dragged the prisoners around as they saw fit. One prisoner was being tied to some sort of table by two soldiers while a third soldier and a wide-eyed little girl beside him watched.

"Daddy?" At this, Gaet assumed the little girl was the soldier's daughter. "Why is that girl being tied down?"

A tiny bit of hope appeared on the prisoner's face at this small sign of sympathy. Clinging to the slight chance of getting the soldiers to show mercy, the blonde girl looked from the child to her father. "Please...explain it to her. Tell her why you Orerines would do this to a person!"

The man showed no pity to the prisoner and instead turned to pat his daughter's head. "Because she's not human, sweetie. They're called Radiant, and they only look like people to trick us," he explained patiently, trying his best to explain a long history of hatred to the child in front of him. "See how she called us Orerines just now? That's their name for us, because even they know they're not human. They have dangerous weapons, so we're trying to find out how they work."

"I should've expected this, but to think you'd go so far as to brainwash a child!" Tied down and too weak to use eres, the prisoner could only shout futilely. The two soldiers had their tools ready for Vaclav's experiment, but they put it on hold to listen to the conversation. She continued shouting and began thrashing about. "Don't listen to him! We Ferines are the victims!"

Although she could do nothing to influence the situation, Gaet was starting to take sides. For some reason, just looking at these Radiant or Ferines as they called themselves invoked a strong sense of loathing within her. She didn't know why, but she hated something about them and a part of her believed that they deserved every bit of torture they would receive.

The little girl looked frantically from her father to the Radiant girl, unsure of what to think. However, her father wasted no time in interrupting to speak to the other two soldiers. "I think she's said enough. Quiet her down, will you?" He gently led his daughter away, barely getting far away enough to spare her from hearing the almost inhuman screeches of agony. "They want to hurt a lot of people, so we need to do this to stop them. You'll understand someday."

"Really? I will?" The child had a hard time accepting that her family would lock people up, but surely her parents wouldn't do that if there wasn't a good reason.

"Bringing your daughter to a fortress? This is a warzone, not a playground!" A rough, booming voice sounded from behind.

"Commander Vaclav," the girl's father turned and gave a respectful salute while his daughter gave a clumsy imitation. "Actually, I brought her here because I'd like to enlist her in one of your training facilities. She wants to help out, and I think she may have talent as a beast tamer. See, she managed to calm a phynx down a while ago. What do you think?"

"I think you're lucky I've been so lenient with you," Vaclav began, his scowl betraying the interest in this opportunity. "However, taming any monster at her age with no training is impressive. See to it that she never steps foot into this fortress again until her training is finished, and I'll excuse your reckless decision to bring her here. Take her to the training camp yourself. I'll excuse your absence." He took one glance at the child who would likely make a good soldier in the future, then quietly walked away.

"Thank you, sir." The man turned to his daughter and gave a small smile. "See? You made it. Now you'll be able to help out me and your mother like you wanted to."

The child beamed. "I can really help you? Really?"

"Yup! But you have to promise you'll listen to the instructors there, okay?"

"Of course!"

"There's my girl!"

The pair began to exit the fortress, leaving only a very confused Gaet. _What am I even seeing?_

* * *

She woke with a start and looked around the room, only to find that she was still in the Oresoren Village. _So then...that was a dream? Why would I dream that?_

Gaet looked down at her paws in disappointment. Well, one thing was for sure—her current predicament wasn't a dream, after all.

Sighing, she looked around once more to see two Oresoren curled up and sleeping on the other side of the room. One of them was Poppo, but the other one was new to her. _Jay did mention something about two other Oresoren, huh?_ She had fallen asleep long before they arrived, though. After about a minute of staring at her paws and contemplating her dream, Gaet heard the sound of footsteps from downstairs. She tensed at first, but relaxed slightly when she realized that she would already be dead by now if their goal was to kill her.

An Oresoren dressed in blue and carrying a harp appeared, immediately looking to her and waving hello. "Ors~! Good morning, Gaet!"

_Do all of them say "ors"?_ She wondered silently before returning the greeting. "Good...good morning."

"We heard everything from Jay and Poppo. Don't worry, Jay can fix this! Oh, my name's Pippo and my brother here is Quppo," the otter gestured to the sleeping Oresoren beside Poppo.

"Nice to meet you," she answered hesitantly while silently berating herself. This was no time to have a pleasant conversation! "So then...are you three going to come along?"

"Nope! We have to watch the village."

"Oh, I see..." If Jay was anywhere near as threatening as he was the day before, Gaet wondered if she could even survive the trip to Werites Beacon. She was thoroughly convinced that the only reason the boy hadn't killed her yet was because of the Oresoren and their merciful will to stop him from doing so. Still, trying to sneak away would only make things worse for herself. "It's almost time for us to be leaving, huh?"

"Yes. Jay's waiting downstairs."

"Alright, then I should get going. Pippo, was it? Tell Poppo I said thanks." Gaet was actually pretty grateful for the little otter. Even though he was just as confused as her, he stayed patient and did his best to help out.

"You can count on me. Ors!" Pippo waved as Gaet went ahead downstairs. "Take care!"

"Oh, I'll try," she answered quietly. When she got close enough to see Jay standing at the door and waiting, the female Oresoren paused. A small part of her wanted to put the journey on hold like a child trying to avoid bitter medicine while another part of her knew it was better to get this over with. Either way, she wasn't looking forward to traveling with someone who could and would try to kill her at the drop of a hat.

"How long are you going to stand there?" Jay walked closer and looked up at her in mild annoyance. He seemed to be a little less menacing now, so she assumed that meant either the other Oresoren had talked to him, or he finally realized that she was in fact harmless.

"Okay, I'll get moving," Gaet answered, forcing herself to keep a somewhat respectful tone. Unfriendly as he was, this person _was_ still going out of his way to help a stranger. Sure, it was probably only because of Poppo, but it still made her begin to consider showing a little more gratitude. _I've been pretty rude, too. Maybe I should apologize._

But then she remembered those death threats from the day before, and any desire to be grateful to Jay had vanished.

Jay simply nodded and headed out the door, waiting for Gaet to follow. "We'll be using the duct to get there, so we shouldn't run into any monsters _unless you do something stupid_." The last few words were said in a particularly harsh tone that got on her nerves.

"Hey! Don't just assume I'm an idiot right off the bat!"

"You're almost as bad as that stupid bandit," Jay muttered.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The otter walked along after him, her tail twitching in irritation. Soon they fell into a routine where she would shout and Jay would give a calm but mocking response, causing her to shout more in an endless cycle until they reached the drawbridge to Werites Beacon. Instead of continuing onward, Jay stopped and turned to Gaet.

"Besides, why is it that—?" Jay's abrupt stop cut her off. "What?"

"When we get to Will's house—"

"Who's Will?"

"You'll find out when we get there. Anyways, let me explain everything to the others when we get there. Don't say anything about your homeland unless you're asked."

Gaet tilted her head at the strange request. Was there something he didn't want his friends to know about? "Alright, then."

With that, Jay turned back around and resumed walking while Gaet followed along.


	4. Reunion

Author's Note: Hello again, and thanks for reading this far! So the fun bunch has finally assembled, and I have to say, it feels strange writing so many characters at once. I'm so used to roleplays where each person could just write a few detailed paragraphs focusing solely their own character's thoughts and actions, but now there's eight characters to worry about! It's definitely not going to be easy giving everyone character depth, especially if I want to have consistent chapter lengths. There's also the threat of slipping up and accidentally making Gaet into a Mary-Sue(or just a really boring character), and the story needs to stay interesting, and then there's pacing, keeping the cannons in character...yep, this will be a challenge.

Anyways, let me know if I'm doing anything wrong here. Seven cannon characters in one place is pretty tough to work with, so I'm gonna need a bit of help catching mistakes. Well, enjoy!

As always, Tales of Legendia isn't mine.

* * *

Gaet gazed in wonder at everything she and Jay passed, surprised to see just how much bigger the world looked from her new perspective. She may have been human before, but now it felt like she was in a town of giants! Oddly enough, the townspeople didn't seem to be alarmed by the Oresoren, either. Maybe they were common on the Legacy.

"Hurry up," Jay said, growing impatient.

"Huh? Oh, right!" She had been staring off towards the fountain plaza where two strange people in white capes were singing and dancing, but quickly ran to catch up to Jay when he called. "Hey, is something going on over there?"

Jay took one glance toward the plaza, sighed, then kept walking, almost eager to distance himself from the commotion. "No, nothing at all. They do this often."

"This seems like a lively town." Up ahead, a house with a beautiful lawn full of flowers caught Gaet's attention, and her tail moved back and fourth happily. She began to wander over to the flowers, but then stopped herself before Jay could get annoyed and go back to hurling death threats. He had been pretty calm for a while now, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "Right, so...are we almost there?"

The boy stopped in front of the very lawn she was just looking at. "Yes, here it is."

"JJ, it's been a while! What's up?" A female voice interrupted. Soon its owner, a girl in all yellow with short brown hair, reached them.

_'JJ'?_ Gaet tilted her head. _Do they know each other?_

"Norma, do you know if Will is home?" Jay didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by the nickname.

"What, no 'hello'? That hurts, JJ!" Norma pretended to pout for a moment before shaking her head. "Teach left a little while ago to talk to Madame Musette about something. He might be back in—oh, hey! Who's this little guy? He's not one of the scallop brothers."

Gaet stared up at the girl, but folded her ears when Norma called her a guy. "Hey! I'm—"

Sensing an upcoming verbal war that he really didn't want to deal with, Jay cut in. "Actually, that's why we're here. She has amnesia, and I was hoping to talk with you all to find a solution. I'll explain in full when everyone's he—"

"Woah, Oresoren can be girls, too?" Norma stared at the otter with curiosity.

"Why would you think otherwise?" Jay asked calmly.

"Huh, good point." The girl turned to Gaet and held out a hand. "Sorry about that! I'm Norma Beatty, what's your name?"

Gaet looked up at her for a while, then placed her paw on the girl's hand to return the handshake. She didn't even look human, so it was silly to get all offended over that little mistake. "It's alright. My name's...Gaet," she answered hesitantly, still unused to using a name that wasn't even her own. The name earned a confused look from Norma.

"Poppo named her," Jay explained quickly. It only raised more questions, but his answer did explain the strange name's origin.

"What, why? JJ, now you _have_ to tell me what's up!"

"It will be easier to just tell everyone at once."

"Ooooh, fine. C'mon then, let's go find them!" The girl grabbed Jay's wrist and Gaet's paw before they could object, then dragged them away. "C just got back from helping Elsa find herbs, Red should still be at the lighthouse, and Shirl just left to wake Senny up. I'm not sure where they're going, though."

Jay immediately pulled his hand away, but he still followed along nonetheless. "Then we'll start with Senel and Shirley. There's no telling how long it will take to find them if we wait."

"What? Who...?" Gaet looked from Norma to Jay in confusion, just barely stumbling along to keep up with them while her paw was being pulled. There were way too many names for her to keep track of all of a sudden, and the girl's nicknames only added to the confusion.

"You'll meet them soon enough," Jay answered as they walked up to a house.

Norma marched right up to the door and started knocking. "Senny, Shirl! I know you're in the middle of a steamy, passionate, love-filled exchange, but this is important!"

There was a quiet pause before the door opened and a white-haired boy stepped out, followed by a blonde girl with long hair. The former looked annoyed, the latter hid shyly behind him, and both were blushing at Norma's comment. "We were not! What is it, Norma?" The boy asked grumpily.

_Hmm? She looks familiar._ Gaet stared up at the blonde girl for a while before it hit her. _Oh! She looks kind of like those people from my dream! Ferines, I think..._ Now that she got a good look at her, the girl only needed blue clothes and she would look exactly like them. This definitely wasn't the exact same person from her dream, though. She narrowed her eyes momentarily, but then shook her head. _Probably a coincidence. Yeah... _

"...t? Gaet?" Jay looked to the Oresoren, who seemed to be staring intently at Shirley. He and the others shared a worried glance while Senel moved to stand in front of the blonde protectively.

"Ow!" Feeling a tug on her ear, Gaet snapped out of it and whirled around to face the culprit. "Norma, what was that for?"

"Are you okay? You've been staring at Shirl for a while now."

"Huh? I was?" Gaet looked around at everyone and bowed her head apologetically. They seemed really on edge now for some reason. "S-sorry. I guess I spaced out."

"Oh, that's alright," Shirley answered in a quiet voice before walking up to the Oresoren. "So you're Gaet?" Apparently Jay had given a brief introduction while she was spacing out. "My name's Shirley Fennes, and this is Sennel Coolidge. It's nice to meet you." She gestured to the white-haired boy, who just narrowed his eyes at Gaet. He was suspicious of her, much like Jay had been earlier, but he seemed just slightly less bloodthirsty about it. Regardless, it seemed she had gotten off to a bad start with this group.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm really sorry about that," Gaet answered, relieved to see that the others were relaxing a bit more.

"Don't worry about it! You're probably just tired," Shirley insisted with a friendly smile.

Gaet could already tell that this girl and Norma were going to be much easier to get along with than Senel and Jay.

"Since that's all settled, let's go get C and Red!" Norma excitedly pulled the Oresoren away while the rest of the group went after her.

"She's certainly eager to hear your story, Gaet," Jay observed as they neared the hospital.

"Y-yeah..."

When they entered the building, there was a man and a girl with brown hair sitting at a counter with a black-haired girl dressed in dark blue. The three of them seemed to be hard at work sorting herbs, and the girl dressed in blue suddenly hesitated a bit.

The brown-haired girl looked up at her. "Chloe, that herb goes over there."

"O-oh, right. I'm still not used to this. Thanks, Elsa." Chloe adjusted her hat before returning to her work.

It wasn't until the man sitting with them looked up that the two girls noticed the newcomers. Elsa's face lit up at the sight of the cute little Oresoren, but Chloe spoke up before the girl could say anything. "Jay?" She seemed a bit surprised that most of the group was gathered, especially since Jay didn't visit often unless something was wrong. "What is it?"

"We need to talk about something. Jay says he'll explain when everyone's together," Senel answered.

Chloe glanced briefly at Gaet, then nodded and turned to the man at the counter. "Alcott, I'll have to go for now. Elsa, take care." With that, she stood up and joined the group, no questions asked. Clearly this was something important, so she didn't want to waste any time. "Let's get going, then. We'll talk on the way."

"Alright, now we just need to find Red and wait for Teach to come back!" Norma marched on ahead while everyone struggled to keep up.

"I've never seen you before. What's your name?" While they walked, Chloe looked down to greet the Oresoren. It only took a few seconds of looking at the little otter before the serious expression on her face faded.

"Gaet," she answered, starting to get used to her temporary name after having to introduce herself so often. Luckily it looked like this girl wasn't going to be all suspicious of her. "And you?"

"Chloe Valens. So, why are you here?"

"I brought her." Jay, who had been quiet up until now, answered before Gaet had the chance. "It'll be a long story, so I plan on waiting until we're all at Will's house."

"I see." Chloe held back the urge to ask more.

"Isn't it frustrating, C? JJ's teasing us by not telling us anything!" Norma called over her shoulder.

"We'll just have to be patient," Chloe responded.

"Fine...Ooh, I know! Scallop girl can tell us."

"Scallop girl?" Gaet repeated, less than pleased with the nickname.

"Oh, c'mon. Gaet's not an easy name to work with, you know. Let's see...how about Mi, then?"

"Why Mi?"

"Oresoren call gaets 'Mighty Ones', so Mi. Short for Mighty One," Norma explained.

"I guess that's a little better—wait, when did this turn into a conversation about nicknames?"

"I give nicknames to everyone I meet. But never mind that, tell us what's up!"

Jay suddenly interrupted Gaet's exchange with Norma. "Gaet. You remember what you promised, right?" He glanced back and Gaet momentarily spotted a menacing glint in the boy's eye.

"R-right. Norma, I think it's better if Jay explains it." She wasn't sure why the boy didn't want her to tell the others, but it wasn't worth finding out the hard way.

"Aww..." Norma whined.

"We won't have to wait that long," Shirley offered, trying to console her. "See? Moses is right up ahead."

"It's about time! Hey, Red, get over here!" The girl immediately became lively again and waved to the red-haired bandit ahead of them.

"Hey Bubbles. Somethin' up?" He reached the group with a puzzled expression. "Oh look, Jay's back! Haven't grown a bit, I see!" At this, the man ruffled Jay's hair.

"Get your hand _off_ me, you stupid bandit!" Jay growled, stepping back to free himself.

"Aww, what kinda greetin' was that?" He grinned.

"It wasn't one, you idiot."

"Oh come on! You been gone so long, and now you come back and yer callin' me an idiot?"

"Cut it out, you two," Senel stepped in between them. "This isn't the time to be messing around."

"Senny, you're starting to sound just like Teach! Soon you're gonna be an old man." Norma teased.

"Don't blame me. Moses started it." Jay cut in.

"Look, you...never mind, whatever." Senel placed a hand on his forehead and gave up saying anything more.

"So, who's this little fella?" Moses pointed to the Oresoren.

"I'm Gaet," she answered. This one seemed...friendly, to say the least. _Oh yeah, he must be the one Jay was talking about earlier._

"Hah! Ya don't look like a Gaet, that's fer sure! The name's Moses," he said cheerfully, patting Gaet on the head. "So, what're y'all up to?"

"JJ wanted to tell us something when we all got together," Norma explained before running off. "Now let's get to Teach's house!"

"Norma, hurrying won't make Will get home faster," Chloe called after the girl to no avail. Soon everyone was running to catch up to her.

Exhausted, everyone except Norma fell to the floor when they finally reached Will's house. "Did...did you really have to...sprint the...whole way...there?" Gaet asked between gasps for air. The others recovered quickly, but running on stubby otter feet had taken a lot out of her.

"Yep!" Norma sat down and beckoned for the group to join her. "Now, let's talk while we wait."

With a sigh, everyone complied and moved to sit in a circle.

"So, anyone have something interesting to talk about, since JJ doesn't want to tell us anything?"

* * *

After a short conversation about how Chloe's herb-gathering trip went, everyone slowly began to get tired from running around town all morning. Before long, the entire group had fallen into a light nap in front of Will's house.

When the owner of the house approached, he naturally looked confused. "Everyone...and an Oresoren?" Will shook his head and proceeded to smack each of them to wake them up. "What are you doing sleeping on someone's lawn? If this were anyone else's house, they would have called the authorities on you by now!" He lectured.

"Urrgh..." Groaning, Gaet looked up at the man and immediately widened her eyes in surprise. Everyone so far had easily reached twice her height, but this person was like a tower! She looked up at the bespectacled man in orange with a mixture of fear and amazement.

"Will..." Jay sat up and joined the others in rubbing his sore head. "I have something important to tell you all."

"I assume it has something to do with your little friend, here," Will said, already unlocking the front door. "Very well. Come inside, everyone."

"It's about time, Teach!" Norma shouted impatiently.


	5. Discussion

Author's Note: Hello again! It took five whole chapters, but now the antagonist finally appeared. I remember reading that the Crusand Empire had three princes, so naturally someone was going to try following Vaclav's footsteps, right?

Anyways, I'd love to know what you think of the story so far!

As always, Tales of Legendia doesn't belong to me. But if it did...Mimi would be a playable character, complete with her own character quest, and Chloe or Norma(or both, preferably) would be the main character. It would work, somehow.

* * *

"So then, care to tell us what's going on?" Will asked once everyone was gathered in the living room. The setting sun cast an orange light through the window.

"Of course. First, Gaet here is not an Oresoren," Jay began.

"What d'ya mean she ain't an Oresoren? Look at 'er!" Moses exclaimed while the others silently agreed.

"Come to think of it, Mi never once said 'Ors, ors!' like the others," Norma added.

"Yes, well, according to her, she used to be human. Whether that's true or not, she definitely isn't from the Oresoren village. Poppo found her near his workshop by the Great Hollow."

Will nodded before turning to Gaet. "And do you remember anything about how or why this happened?"

Gaet shook her head quickly. "Nope, nothing. I remember boarding the Legacy, then waking up like this."

"I see..." The man put a hand to his chin, deep in thought. "To transform someone like that, it must have taken an immense power."

"Something like the Everlight?" Chloe offered, remembering the wish-granting stone. It had shattered when Norma used it, but surely other magical items like that existed.

"Perhaps..."

Senel cut in. "I don't see what any of this has to do with us. Besides, how do we know she isn't hiding anything?"

"She isn't. I've made sure of that," Jay assured the boy, earning a shudder from Gaet. It was true; she valued her life too much to risk getting killed for keeping secrets. _But there's still that dream...should I tell Jay about it? _She wondered.

"And if some powerful force is at work, I somehow doubt its only objective was to make an Oresoren. We should investigate before it does something worse," Will added.

"I think we should help her, too. It must be terrifying to go through something like that," Shirley pleaded. Gaet regretted thinking this girl was one of those Ferines people earlier. She was too kind to be one of them!

Senel sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. So where should we start?"

"Poppo found her in the Great Hollow, right? We might find some clues there," Chloe suggested.

"Good call, C! So, when are we heading out?"

"You say it like it's already decided, Norma," Will said, shaking his head.

"What, you mean we're not gonna help her? Don't be so cold!"

"No, we are, but...fine, we'll head out tomorrow. Any objections?"

Everyone turned to Gaet before sharing silent glances. Senel looked like he was about to protest, but then Shirley tugged at his sleeve and shook her head, which apparently convinced him to keep silent. When it seemed the group had reached a consensus, Senel spoke up. "I still don't trust her, but we do need to find out what's going on. For the time being, I'm fine with it." The others nodded in agreement.

"Th...thank you guys!" It looked like all that hostility she received earlier had payed off. Now she had a chance to become human again and even get her memories back. They were reasonably wary of her, but these people were still incredibly kind for helping.

"Ain't no problem, Gaet!" Moses grinned.

"Yeah, there's no way we can say no to those cute little Oresoren eyes!" Norma gave the fuzzy otter a quick hug.

"So Will, what was it that you and Madame Musette were talking about? You seemed to be gone a long while." Jay wasted no time changing the subject.

"Right. I was actually hoping to tell you all about this, so it's a good thing everyone's here," Will's expression somehow became even more serious than before. "According to Madame Musette, Crusand soldiers were spotted on the Legacy. What's more, they sent a messenger with a warning."

"Oh! That's m—"

A cold glare from Jay silenced Gaet, and one glance around the room told her why he wanted her to keep her homeland a secret. The instant Will uttered the word "Crusand", everyone's faces paled and the atmosphere grew tense. Shirley began to tremble, and Senel stepped in front of her as if to shield her from some invisible foe while Norma scooted closer to Chloe, and Moses clenched his fists—Jay seemed to be the only one not surprised by the news, and even he looked uneasy. _What happened between my homeland and these people?_

"As I feared," Jay crossed his arms. "What did the messenger say?"

"He told us that a civilian from Crusand went missing shortly after arriving on the Legacy, then he accused us of taking her captive as a declaration of war against Crusand. Apparently if they don't get her back, the soldiers that were dispatched will begin their attack."

Jay's gaze briefly fell upon Gaet, then returned to Will. "And do you have any prisoners matching that description?"

"None. I think these people are remnants of Vaclav's supporters who want to start another war. I wouldn't put it past them to make false accusations to meet that goal."

"Perhaps. Will, I'd like to speak with you more about this in private later."

"Alright, then. Everyone, I think it's time we got some rest. We'll meet here in the morning," Will announced.

"So where's Mi gonna stay?" Norma asked. Gaet looked around at everyone for an answer.

"I assume Jay will take her back to the Oresoren village." Will turned to Jay for confirmation, but the boy quickly shook his head.

"I don't want to involve the Oresoren any further. Norma, will you let her stay with you at the inn?"

"Someone took the last room, and the innkeeper doesn't trust me with a roommate," she answered reluctantly, making sure to avoid looking at Gaet's Oresoren eyes.

"Honestly..." Jay turned to Moses for a moment, opened his mouth as if to speak, then shook his head and turned away.

"What? Somethin' wrong with askin' me for a favor?" Moses barked.

"No, I just don't think your home is a safe place to stay."

"An' why not?"

"Because you're a savage~!" Norma interrupted matter-of-factly. "Right?"

"That's exactly right, Norma." Jay smirked. Somehow the tense atmosphere from before had all but vanished by now.

"Hey! Y'all are—" Moses began to protest, but Will's fist cut him off. "Ow!"

"Eep!"

"Ugh...!"

Moses, Norma, and Jay were left clutching the newly-formed bumps on their heads while Will turned to address the others. "Alright, then. It's down to me, Senel, Chloe, and Shirley. Any volunteers?"

"The hospital has plenty of extra beds, so I don't think Alcott would mind," Chloe said.

"Alright then, that's settled. Good night, everyone."

Gaet and Senel both gave sighs of relief; Gaet for the fact that she was staying with someone who _wasn't_ eager to attack her at a moment's notice(as far as she knew), and Senel for the fact that this suspicious otter wasn't going to be left with Shirley. At the very least, he knew Chloe could handle herself if things went wrong.

With that finished, the group dispersed and left one by one until Will, Jay, Chloe, and Gaet were the only ones remaining. Before she and Gaet could leave, Chloe was stopped briefly by Jay.

"Be careful," he whispered. "Send word if anything seems remotely suspicious."

_What, careful of her?_ The knight wondered, looking at the seemingly harmless Oresoren in confusion. Of course, she trusted Jay's word and nodded. "I will," she answered, then realized she forgot to say it in a whisper. "O-oh! Uhm..."

"You'll what?" Gaet looked up at Chloe and Jay and blinked innocently, honestly confused.

"She'll take care of you," Jay answered, covering the mistake up. "And before you go, remember not to talk about _that_. I'm sure you know why by now."

Gaet gulped and nodded, knowing he was referring to her homeland. If the others were suspicious of her now, surely they would be even more menacing than Jay once they found out about her connection to Crusand. Chloe seemed confused, but shrugged it off as one of the many secrets Jay tended to keep from everyone. "Until tomorrow, then." She walked out the door, followed closely by Gaet, who kept glancing back as they left.

"Now then. Jay, what did you have to tell me?" Will turned to the boy when the door closed behind Gaet.

"It's about that Crusand civilian. You see, Gaet might be..."

"You're saying she might be the one who went missing. What makes you think that?"

"She mentioned that she was from Crusand. Naturally I kept it secret because of how the others might react."

"True. They're still cautious after that incident with Vaclav."

"Something's strange, though. There's simply no way an ordinary civilian would end up in her situation. I think we should look into that missing person's background."

"Agreed. We should start with..."

The two continued to talk and plan for hours, not really reaching any solid conclusions but managing to work out how they would investigate.

* * *

"Report," a lavender-haired man stood at the entrance to what looked like an ordinary cave from the outside. A soldier in red armor approached him with a salute.

"We've located the Merines. It seems she and her group are planning on exploring the Great Hollow."

"Excellent. Prepare an ambush immediately."

"Understood, Prince Bould." The soldier hurried away to execute his orders.

Prince Bould grinned and looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. It showed a colored sketch, somewhat like a wanted poster, of Shirley Fennes: the Merines and ambassador of the Ferines. Ever since she had become the mediator between the Orerines and the Ferines, it was all too easy to get information on her. However, Crusand's army had been too weak to risk agitating the other kingdoms by capturing her; Vaclav's blunder had severely crippled the empire's strength. To gain support from other countries, they needed an excuse to attack first, or else the whole world would band against them as they did against Vaclav. The sudden disappearance of one of his own subjects had been a blessing in disguise, as it gave Prince Bould the perfect excuse to make a move. He planned on finding the missing person eventually, but right now he was more concerned with accomplishing what his older brother, Vaclav, could not.

_Prepare yourself, Merines. Soon your life will belong to Crusand once more._

* * *

Author's Note(2): Yep, Shirley. She's going to be important. _  
_

Since plenty of people have never played Tales of Legendia before, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to have a brief glossary of sorts for important details. If anyone asks, I'll add one(maybe one definition per chapter, since I'm sure you don't want it in one giant author's note).


	6. Lesson

Author's Note: Hello, again. I'm starting to realize that this story wasn't thought out very well, so updates will probably take longer while I try to salvage it and somehow make it less boring. It's not that I'm dropping it entirely, but I'll be working on oneshots and short stories instead of exclusively focusing on this one. I'll probably pick up the pace if it turns out people actually do enjoy reading this, but for now I'm going to try working on other things.

As always, I don't own Tales of Legendia.

* * *

It wasn't long before the pair reached the hospital after a walk through the now empty streets of Werites Beacon. It seemed the quiet town's residents had all retreated to their houses the moment it became dark, as light could be seen from most of the windows.

"I'm back," Chloe announced, followed by an uncertain Gaet.

Elsa and Alcott were both still sitting at the counter, though it looked like they were almost finished sorting the herbs. The man simply glanced at the otter behind Chloe before giving a nod and returning to his work. "Welcome back." The young girl beside him, however, looked far more excited to see them. She smiled cheerfully and approached the knight, greeting her with a hug.

"Chloe! What took you so long?" Not waiting for an answer, Elsa immediately moved on to pet Gaet and scratch her ears, much to the Oresoren's discomfort. "Aww, it's so cute! Whose is it?"

"Um, I'm..."

"Elsa, she's..."

Chloe and Gaet started to correct the young girl's apparent misconception that Gaet was a pet, only to be interrupted. "It talks!" Elsa pulled her hands away and stepped back, watching the creature in fascination. "What's your name?"

"Elsa, don't be rude..." Chloe shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry about that, Gaet."

"Er...it's alright." Gaet took a couple of steps back so that she was out of the giant's reach. It wasn't that she hated this girl—it just felt odd to be petted. _I always used to handle animals so much, it feels surreal to be one. Wait...I used to work with animals?_ Gaet's eyes widened at the realization that she might have started to get her memory back. _I remember now! I worked as...what did I work as? It involved animals, but... _The Oresoren sighed in disappointment. _Looks like I don't remember._

"Is something wrong? I'm really sorry for mistaking you for a pet, so please don't be angry."

"Huh? Oh..." Gaet snapped out of it to see Elsa and Chloe standing in front of her, looking concerned. "I'm fine, I just spaced out a little. Anyways, I'm Gaet," she introduced herself, remembering the girl's question from earlier.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Elsa," she replied, extending her hand for a handshake. The otter had to get on her tiptoes to reach, but she managed to return the gesture.

"Alcott, is it alright if she stays in my room for now?" Chloe turned to the man, who had apparently been listening.

"Of course," he answered without looking up.

"Thank you." Chloe addressed Elsa next. "Gaet and I have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow, so we'll be going to bed now."

"But Chloe, you always take days to come back!" Elsa protested. "What if something happens?"

"I promise I'll be okay. Now—"

"But—"

"Elsa, I'll need your help making this medicine," Alcott suddenly interrupted. Chloe gave the man a grateful look as Elsa reluctantly joined him.

"Good night, then." The knight walked up the stairs, gesturing for Gaet to follow. This proved to be more difficult than she expected, since the steps were easily half her height.

_It doesn't make sense! I had no trouble walking up stairs at the Oreso...oh. Right._ Of course she had no problems walking up the stairs there—those were made for Oresoren. "I'll be right there..." Gaet placed her paws on the bottom step and dragged herself up, then repeated the process two more times until she felt a pair of hands lift her up. "Ah!" She weakly flailed her small limbs before giving up.

Chloe sighed, carrying the otter all the way up the stairs. _I don't understand, Jay. What could be so dangerous about this Oresoren?_ No matter how she looked at her, the knight simply couldn't see this creature as a threat. When they finally reached the doorway, she carefully set her down and opened the door.

Gaet looked at the ground and shuffled her paws, slightly ashamed of how pathetic she just looked. "Thanks..." She walked inside quietly.

"No problem," Chloe looked down at the Oresoren for a while longer, searching for some form of a threat only to find none. _What am I supposed to be watching out for? _Shaking her head, she walked in after her and sat down on the bed closest to the window. For the sake of Gaet's dignity, the knight let her climb onto the remaining vacant bed without any help. "So, Gaet. I know you said you don't remember anything, but do you have any guesses as to how..._this _happened?"

"Not a clue," Gaet shook her head before curling up under the covers. "I'd like to be human again, though, or at least get my memories back. I mean, I have a name and family and a past and everything, and it hurts that I can't even remember. It feels like I'm just an empty shell without them, and I don't even know who I am," she confessed, once again starting to get depressed by her situation. _Getting upset won't fix this! _The Oresoren quickly told herself.

"It must be horrible," Chloe answered solemnly. "I'm sure we'll find a way to fix it, though."

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me, by the way. It must be hard to trust a stranger."

"It wouldn't have been the first time we've helped a stranger in need." She remembered the fact that Senel and Shirley were complete strangers at first, yet nearly everyone in the group, including her, wasted no time in helping them.

The room was silent for a long while until finally snoring could be heard. _So she's asleep? _Chloe looked at the Oresoren for a short while, once again finding no threats or indications that the otter was only pretending to be asleep. _I guess there's nothing to worry about._ The female knight sighed, then let herself drift off to sleep.

* * *

Gaet found herself walking down a dirt road, approaching an area filled with red tents and matching flags. Feeling a shadow looming over her, she glanced up to find a soldier in red. _Hey...that's the one from my dream! _She thought, quickly recognizing the man. However, the figure that flew above him wasn't quite as familiar to her: it was a grey phynx. The large, winged catlike creature followed them, but it seemed to have no intention of attacking.

"What's wrong, Lila?" The man asked, noticing that she had stopped walking.

_Lila? I'm not..._ Gaet looked down and gasped when she saw human hands. They were small, like those that would belong to a child, but it was the fact that they were human hands that surprised her the most. _What...is this a dream, too?_ Confused, she looked up at the man. Now that she thought about it, he looked familiar. Not just from the dream, but somewhere else...

A chuckle from the man interrupted her train of thought. "Ah, I get it. You're nervous about starting your first day at training camp!" He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her brown hair. "Don't worry, it'll be fun."

"D-daddy!" She said the first word that came to mind, then jumped and covered her mouth when she realized what it was she had just said. _W-what? Why? But, this is..._

"Heheh. Still don't wanna walk? C'mon, upsy daisy!" Suddenly he lifted her up to let her sit on his shoulders. His voice, the way his hands and shoulders felt, it was all so familiar. _Don't tell me I'm..._ She recalled the dream from earlier, and how this man had his kid daughter with him. _Am I?_ With the realization came a sense of calm rather than surprise. _I am. This is my father_. Finally, she was starting to remember who she was.

The phynx that had been flying overhead suddenly landed on all fours in front of them. "Oh? Looks like Mina wants to give you a ride." The catlike creature gave something between a growl and a purr in response, then spread its feathered wings to take flight when 'Lila' was set down on its back. She gripped the animal's fur to avoid falling off, which it didn't seem to mind. _And this is...the first beast I tamed._ It seemed like she was suddenly remembering things much faster now that she understood the dreams, but she knew these were old memories. They would probably be useless in trying to turn herself back to normal, but that didn't make them any less precious. _Thank goodness..._ The child wrapped her small arms around the phynx's neck and buried her face in its fur, relieved to finally have some form of identity. _I don't think I want to wake up for a while._

_But if I'm the little girl, that means I'm..._ She looked ahead at the tents and flags, realizing they resembled a war camp. _...part of the Crusand army._ If nothing else, she knew this would have to be kept secret even from Jay. The others seemed generous, but not _that_ generous. Not generous enough to support someone who was part of an enemy country's army. Besides, for all she knew, she may have quit the army years later. It was too late to be jumping to conclusions. _But maybe I can learn something useful from these dreams._

"Daddy," she looked down at the man from her spot on the phynx's back. "What's it gonna be like when I'm a beast tamer?"

This earned an enthusiastic grin from the soldier. "Well, it's not quite going to be the same as handling Mina. The army's beasts are all much less friendly, but they'll almost always obey commands. Some of them will only listen to the person they're assigned to, but several, especially the weaker ones, will listen to anyone who gives them orders. Those are the ones you'll be working with at the training camp," he explained, ready to babble on forever about how Crusand's army worked. "In fact, a lot of the beasts we use in combat will listen to anyone. Heh, even the enemy could command them if they knew it would work! But basically, you'll be learning the strengths and weaknesses of monsters and how to deal with the stronger, more rebellious ones."

'Lila' nodded, listening intently. She never knew when this would come in handy, so she did her best to remember everything. Even if this information turned out to be useless, she was still eager to learn more about what was most likely her lifestyle.

"They'll teach you the specific stuff later, but that's the gist of it," he finished.

Before she could ask any more, 'Lila' suddenly began to feel incredibly sleepy.

_...et. Gaet, wake up! _

* * *

"Hmm?" Gaet sat up and looked around sleepily. It took her a moment to process the fact that she was still an Oresoren and that this was the hospital. "G'morning..." she mumbled.

"You seem tired. Didn't you sleep well?" Surprisingly enough, it was Elsa's voice she heard. "Breakfast's ready."

"Oh. Yeah, I just had a weird dream," she answered, hopping out of bed. "Where's Chloe?"

"Downstairs. She wanted to do some training earlier, and she just got back. Come on, let's go." The girl skipped out of the room and down the stairs while Gaet followed. However, the otter paused at the top step.

_It should be easier than climbing up, _she reasoned. _Okay, Li...no, Gaet. You can do this._ Taking a deep breath, the Oresoren jumped down the stairs one step at a time before reaching the ground. "Phew!"

If going up and down the stairs was such a great feat, she began to wonder just how difficult the journey ahead would be.


End file.
